You May Not Have the Power; You Always Have Agency.
There are moments in our careers when we are clearly not in charge.
Someone else makes the decision. Leadership changes direction. A person with more authority overrides your recommendation. You speak up and don’t feel heard.
Power matters. But one of the most important lessons I’ve learned about leadership is this:
Power and agency are not the same thing.
You may not always have power. You always have agency.
When you don’t feel heard
For much of my early career in agriculture, I felt incredibly fortunate.
I worked on teams where my ideas were valued. I had opportunities to grow. Even when I was the only woman in certain professional spaces, I generally felt respected by the people around me.
Later in my career, I experienced something very different.
A leadership change dramatically shifted the culture of a company where I had been part of an incredible team. Decisions were being made without people who should have been involved. Trust disappeared. I watched women on the team be treated in ways I hadn’t experienced earlier in my career.
For the first time, I understood what it felt like to have very little power in a professional situation.
That experience taught me something I needed to learn as a leader: just because something hasn’t happened to me doesn’t mean it isn’t happening to someone else.
When someone tells us they don’t feel seen, heard, or respected, we need to listen. It also taught me to separate power from agency.
There is almost always something you can do
Power is authority. Agency is action.
You might not be able to change the decision, but you can say, “I want you to know I’m concerned about this.”
You can request a conversation with leadership. You can ask a question. You can establish a boundary. You can seek another perspective.
And yes, sometimes agency looks like updating your resume and deciding that an environment is no longer one where you’re willing to invest your talents.
Agency doesn’t guarantee the outcome you want. That’s an important distinction.
Exercising agency doesn’t mean you’ll convince the other person, change the policy, or suddenly become the decision-maker. It means you recognize the choices that still belong to you.
That shift can be powerful.
Agency extends beyond our careers
This idea applies to more than organizational leadership.
There was a period of my life when I became so focused on raising my family and building my farm that I neglected my own health. After my daughter was born, I didn’t even make time for the follow-up care I should have received.
Years passed before I went back to the doctor.
Looking back, I can give you every reason I thought I didn’t have time. I had a baby, another child, and a new dairy farm.
None of those reasons changed the fact that I needed to take care of myself.
Making the appointment was agency.
Sometimes agency is a courageous professional decision. Sometimes it’s a doctor’s appointment. Sometimes it’s asking for help. Sometimes it’s saying no. Sometimes it’s finally saying what needs to be said.
Ask a better question
When we’re frustrated, it’s easy to focus entirely on everything outside our control.
Why did they make that decision? Why won’t they listen? Why can’t this be different?
Those questions may be completely valid. But they don’t always move us forward. Try adding another one:
What can I do from here?
You may discover that your options aren’t perfect. You may wish you had more authority, more resources, or a different set of circumstances.
But identifying the next action that belongs to you is one way of taking back ownership.
Take It With You
The next time you feel powerless, ask yourself:
What part of this situation is truly outside my control?
What can I communicate?
What can I ask for?
What boundary can I establish?
What decision still belongs to me?
What is one action I can take next?
Being “in charge” isn’t always about having the title.
Sometimes it’s recognizing the agency you already have and choosing what you’ll do with it.
What are you going to do?
Reach out today to learn more about this speech, "Who's in Charge?". It challenges audiences to think differently about power, agency, and what it means to truly lead. Laura combines candid personal experiences with practical ideas audiences can take back to their careers, organizations, and lives.
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